COMMISSION 



LOS ANGELES 



idlns November 30, I90S 






infintntt on i\]t mmnhnnntt ax nan- 
mmnhn^ntt ai lafos. 




By transfer 
The White House 
Maroh 3rd, 1913 



JVnnual JR^port oi l^in^^xiynnh (Commission 
far ^rar ^nhmg ^n&^mW 30, 1908 



Los Angeles, Dec. i, 1908. 

To the Honorable the City Council of the City of Los Angeles. 

Gentlemen : 

The past year has marked the 
greatest growth in the play- 
ground work since its beginning, 
a Httle over four years ago. 
First in importance has been the 
erection and equipment of the 
Municipal Recreation Center, an 
institution following the splen- 
did achievements of eastern 
^ cities. Los Angeles is to be con- 
gratulated as the first city west of Chicago to open such a Center, 
although there is a growing movement in the larger cities of 
the United States to provide these places for public recreation 
for citizens of all ages. Great improvements have been made 
at the Echo Park Playground, as the detailed report will show. 
A seventh permanent playground has been added through the 
kind co-operation of the City Water Department. Also a fourth 
Vacation Playground has been equipped. The allowance of 
$40,000 for last fiscal year, and of $40,000 again for the present 
fiscal year, has made possible the steady development which 
may be noted in the following detailed reports. 




l^iolet ^tteet piapgrounD 

(Playground No. i.) 

Location, Seventh Ward, ninning from Violet Street through 
to Atlantic, east of Mateo Street. Size, 293 by 300 feet. Opened 
June 10, 1905. ' 

The work of this ground has been along the same general 
lines as that of last year. The attendance, however, has increased 
by over 20,000, and this in spite of a quarantine which kept the 
grounds closed for some time last winter. Counting but once 
a day those on the grounds, 43,874 boys and 30,927 girls have 
been visitors during the year. 

Baseball, basket ball, handball, open-air gymnasium, field 
sports, swings, teeters, maypoles, croquet, sand-boxes, gardens, 
and the various minor attractions, have maintained their steady 
hold upon the children. New attractions have been added in a 
tennis court and volley ball court, and in modern iron pipe swings 
with ball-bearing attachments, which have replaced the worn- 
out wooden swings. 

The two showers have been used by 900 boys and 252 girls. 

The boys have had their usual teams organized under their 
Director. The girls, too, have had teams in basket ball, volley 
ball and indoor baseball. 

Training for the Inter-Playground Track-Meet was a great 
feature of the summer season. 

Since July the girls have had the advantage of a leader 
who devotes all of her time to this ground, instead of dividing 
between this and Echo Park Playground, as was formerly the 
case. The Assistant Director, Miss C. Pearl Humphrey, in 
charge of this work, looks out for the general welfare of the 
oirls, oro^anizes and coaches their teams, teaches gvmnastic 
drills and folk dances, leads the little children in round games, 
and sees to the comfort of the babies amusing themselves with 
sandpile and blocks. She has general care also of the children's 
gardens. In the Club House she leads girls' activities, and super- 
vises the weekly lecture course. 



The Kindergarten of the Seventh Street School has enjoyed 
twenty-three visits to the playground. The children of the Boyle 
Heights Orphanage have spent three happy afternoons here. 

The grounds and Club House are cared for by a janitor, 
one of the playground boys being employed for this work. 

One of the great features of this ground is that the Super- 
intendent and his family make it their home, living in a pretty 
little bungalow that is part of the general equipment. This 
residence feature rounds out the influence of the Playground 
as a neighborhood center. It is the aim of the Department to 
have all of its grounds equipped in time so that the Directors 
may be resident. 

This ground and the Echo Park Playground as well are 
open as foUow^s : All day during vacations, on most holidays, 
and on Saturdays; from two o'clock until dark on school days 
(the Violet Street is also open for the children of the Seventh 
Street School at noon recess) ; and on Sunday afternoons as a 
park, without privilege of match games or regular work of any 
kind. 

GARDENS. 

A little over a year ago the children who enjoyed gardening 
were. banded into the so-called "Park Department" of the Play- 
ground, with Mrs. Andrew Glassell, and Miss Andretta Glassell 
as volunteer leaders. Tv^enty-five girls and boys (the large ma- 
jority girls) undertook the care of the trees, vines and flowers 
of the playground, dividing themselves into small companies 
with captains. 

These children and twenty more also cultivated individual 
vegetable gardens. By a system of marking, the children re- 
ceived points for watering, v^eeding, regularity in attention, and 
care of tools, and on June ist prizes were awarded the two 
who had earned the best record. All, however, had the pleasure 
of carrying home the precious harvests of lettuce, radishes, 
carrots, etc. The forty-five gardeners v^ere also divided into two 
sections, each section competing for the greatest number of 
points. On June ist the losers gave the winners a party. 

The work has continued along these lines during the summer 
and fall, and prizes have again been awarded the most vigilant. It 
is to be regretted that not all who wish gardens can be accom- 
modated. 



CELEBRATIONS. 

Christmas. — Owing to quarantine, there could be no gathering 
at the grounds. Candy, toys and provisions, however, were 
distributed in the neighborhood, these being gifts of the children 
of Christ Church Sunday School, and of friends interested in 
the work. 



Arbor Day, March 6th. — Over looo children and adults were 
present to witness the planting of sycamore trees by children 
of the ''Park Department," and to hear an address appropriate 
to the day. These ceremonies were followed by a picturesque 
tournament of games given by -'King Arthur's Knights" in re- 
galia of their own making. 

Fourth of July. — Races were held, for which prizes were given ; 
lemonade was served to all from a decorated booth, and a band 
concert was given, making the day a very memorable one. In 
the evening a beautiful display of fireworks took place, which 
scores of neighboring families came to enjoy. 




BOYS" GAME -VIOLET STREET PLAYGROUND 

7 



DISTRICT NURSE. 

The District Nurse, with the Playground as headquarters, 
makes her daily tour throughout a large area. She averages 
sixteen visits a day in the homes where needed, and her work 
extends from the Seventh Ward into the Sixth and Ninth Wards. 
Thirteen nationalities are upon her list, although the greatest 
number of cases come from American homes. The nearby 
Seventh Street School, with 700 children enrolled, receives her 
regular care. 

The supply-room of the nurse, located upon the Playground, 
serves twice a week as a medical dispensary. Two volunteer 
physicians, working each one hour a week with the nurse, have 
treated 519 cases, while the nurse has given first-aid treatment 
to 350 other cases. 

The nurse is one of three whose work is conducted by the 
College Settlement under the superintendency of Mrs. Nathan 
Weston. The work is supported by the city. 

For detailed account, see "Eleventh Annual Report of District 
Nursing under the College Settlement," filed with City Council. 




BUILDERS -VIOLET STREET PLAYGROUND. 



COURTESY OF 
EXAMINER 



LIBRARY. 

Playground Station No. i, a branch of the Pubhc Library, 
has continued its work two afternoons and one evening a week 
in the Ckib House. For the first six months, Miss Maud 
Whitlock remained in charge. Splendid assistance was ren- 
dered by Miss Minnie Wood, Miss Fanny Rowan and Miss Susan 
Carpenter, volunteer helpers. Interesting club work was also 
carried on by volunteers. Miss Mary Dickinson conducted the 
"Girls' Scrap-book Club." which made scrap-books for home 
use and for the Children's Hospital, and at the end of the sea- 
son gave the play, ''The Birds' Christmas Carol." Miss Cassie 
Amsbury had charge of quiet games in the evening sessions. 
Miss Belle Parsons continued the ''King Arthur's Knights," a 
boys' club devoted to reading works of chivalry, to making para- 
phernalia of knights, and to playing knightly games. 

Upon taking up other work, Miss Whitlock found it necessary 
to resign, and during the summer Miss Dora Chelgrene had 
charge. Miss Jennie L. Dick is now Librarian. She is reor- 
ganizing "King Arthur's Knights" under Mrs. J. R. Pinkham, 
and the "Girls' Scrap-book Club" under Mrs. Thomas L. Clay. 
Miss Eleanor Hitt is giving service with a Story Hour. , 

The circulation of books ranges at present from 30 to 50. 
There are 165 Public Library and gift books, and 600 discards 
from Public Library, also four monthly magazines and one 
children's weekly subscribed for. Daily newspapers are also 
provided. 

OTHER CLUB HOUSE ACTIVITIES. 

The Club House is often the scene of afternoon games and 
drills, especially in rainy weather. 

A girls' "Dramatic and Athletic Club" meets one afternoon 
a week, and the "Girls' Social Club" one evening. The latter 
engages in physical training, folk dancing and elocution, and 
is now preparing to give the Christmas entertainment for the 
Playground. 

Clubs for boys meet two evenings a week. 

Entertainments are frequently given by the clubs or by groups 
from the neighborhood. 

On Saturday evenings, from November to June, a lecture 
course is conducted, those who take part giving their services. 
The following list of lectures given last winter, and attended by 




10 



an audience averaging i8o, will show the nature of the work. 
Quarantine interrupted the course, which otherwise would have 
been fuller. 

Stereopticon lecture — Zoology . . ''Our Small Neighbors" 
Prof. Gilbert, L. A. High School. 

Lecture .... ''Responsibility for Social Reform" 
Prof. Knoles, University of Southern California. 

Entertainment Play and Readings 

Cumnock School of Expression. 

Stereopticon lecture .... "A Trip to Mexico" 
Mrs. J. L. Corella-Phipps. 

Entertainment Readings and Music 

College of Oratory, University of Southern California. 

Stereopticon lecture . . . "Fire, Air, Earth and Water" 
Prof. Boren, Harvard Military School. 

Entertainment Readings and Music 

College of Oratory, University of Southern California. 

Stereopticon lecture — Zoology . "Our Friends of the Sea" 
Prof. Gilbert, L. A. High School. 

Illustrated lecture . "Electricity and Wireless Telegraphy" 
Prof. Twining, Polytechnic High School. 

Entertainment Play and Readings 

Cumnock School of Expression. 

Stereopticon lecture . "France — Experiments in Politics" 
Robert A. Gibbs, University of Southern California. 

Entertainment Play and Readings 

Dramatic Club, University of Southern California. 

Stereopticon lecture .... "The Venetian Republic" 
Robert A. Gibbs, University of Southern California. 



NEEDED FEATURES. 

A long-contemplated improvement, which may be added during 
the coming year, is a wading pool. A more welcome addition 
for the long summer months could not be imagined by the smaller 
children. 

For the young men, it is hoped that arrangements can be 
made to keep the outdoor gymnasium open in the evening. Arc 
lights and extra help would be required, but these would give 
the working boys and the young men a chance which they are 
now missing. 

11 




12 



OBcfto park piapgtounD 

(Playground No. 2) 

Location, Second Ward, part of southerly extension of Echo 
Park from Bellevue Avenue to Temple Street. Area of play- 
ground proper about four acres. Granted by Park Commission 
May 12, 1905. Opened May 18, 1907. 

For this gronnd, Director Oliver W. Best reports as follows : 

To Miss Bessie D. Stoddart, 

Secretary of the Playground Commission. 

Dear Madam : — In accordance with your request, I have the 
honor, as the Director of Echo Park Playground, of submitting 
to you the following report of what has been accomplished during 
the past year. 

A total of 32,160 for the six months that the playground was 
open last year seemed a line record of attendance. However, 
for this complete year, the total reaches the high figure of 
109,935 (record of those present being taken once a day). This 
is almost double that for last year's average. On many Saturday 
afternoons the attendance has reached seven hundred and over. 

The Kindergarten classes of the neighboring schools have 
frequently spent mornings at the playground, the little folks 
enjoying complete possession of swings, see-saws and all the other 
attractions. 

FIELD ACTIVITIES. 

The teams have been successful, as the record of 179 games will 
show. In these, the playground teams have won 129 victories, 
in baseball, football, volley ball, basket ball, and indoor baseball, 
as against 7 tie games and 43 defeats. The honor of being on 
one of the playground teams is a prize eagerly sought, and once 
gained the boy or girl plays hard to keep his coveted position. 
The playground baseball diamonds and basket ball and volley ball 
courts have been in large demand by outside teams whenever an 
open date could be secured, and 53 outside match games have 
been played on the field When the city schools played off the 

13 



jAv 3n/\m^ 




14 



grammar grade baseball championship, dividing the schools 
into three districts, Echo Park Playground was made the meet- 
ing place for the twelve teams of that district. 

The shower baths have been in greater demand this year. The 
assistance of one of the city school nurses during vacation 
days made it possible for more girls to enjoy the baths. The 
total number of hot and cold showers for the year is 2,183. 

Adding greatly to the success of the work of the playground 
has been the appointment for the girls of a regular Assistant 
Director. It is her duty to care for the smaller children, to coach 
and organize the different teams for the girls' games, to direct 
the various social activities of the girls, and to be their helpful 
friend and leader. Previously the work had been handicapped 
as the Assistant was in charge but three days of the week. 
Miss Edna S. Best, sister of the Director, has had charge of 
two grounds, but beginning with July, was enabled to devote all 
of her time to this one playground 



IMPROVEMENTS. 

One of the most important additions to the playground equip- 
ment has been the erection of a beautiful Club House, suited in 
all respects for the work, and artistic in design. The main room, 
which is ^2 by 48 feet in size, is used for a library and reading 
room, as well as for a hall for marching, drills and light gym- 
nastics. The provision of a large stage makes possible the giving 
of entertainments. A kitchen containing dishes and utensils for 
serving refreshments, helps complete the neighborhood social 
center. The club rooms at the east end of the building are 
temporarily occupied by the Directors as living rooms, believing 
that, as residents, the Directors can be of greater help in the 
work of the playground. In the basement is found a long room 
equipped with a box bowling set. Adjoining it is a cement- 
floored room which serves as shop and club room. Often it is 
used as a place for gymnastics and for boxing circles in the 
evening or on rainy days. A storeroom and repair shop are also 
located in the basement. 

Next in importance in the work of the pla^-ground lias been 
the erection and equipment of an open-air gymnasium. This is 
40 by 60 feet in size, and is located on the boys' side. Here are 
found ladders, slides, acting bar, and JMg swing rope. The floor 

1.") 



is nine inches of the best tan-bark. This is always soft and 
springy, accidents are few, and the fun great. 

The sand boxes have been filled with fine beach sand. Above 
the boxes are canvas awnings which shield the children from 
sun and rain. Large building blocks are found in each sand 
box and scores of little folk find these boxes fine places to dig or 
build in, or to use for a soft tumbling spot. When the wading 
pool is added, their joy will be complete. 

Many parents visit the ground. While the children play here 
and there, mothers may be seen occupied with knitting, writing 
tablet or book. For them the new summer house, 15 by 25 feet in 
size, and thatched with palm leaves, has become a pleasant 
resting place. When not used in this way, it is busy with children 
at games of jacks and jump rope, or "playing house." 

Three sets of cement steps ascending the b^'.nk are just being 
finished. These will be of assistance to the many hundreds 
who pass through the playground on their way to and from the 
park and lake. They will also make possible the grading of the 
bank and planting it to flowering plants. 

CLUB HOUSE ACTIVITIES. 

The large auditorium with stage has made possible a series, 
up to date, of 29 entertainments with an attendance of 4342. 
Beginning with November, and lasting until June of next year, 
a regular Saturday evening free lecture course has been arranged. 




FRONT VIEW OF CLUB HOUSE -ECHO PARK PLAYGROUND 

16 



This course is primarily for the parents and yoiuig people of 
the neighborhood, but children may attend, too, provided there 
is room. Los Angeles talent has volunteered the programs of 
music, readings, gymnastic work and stereopticon lectures, and 
these are always genuinely appreciated. 

Quite an extended line of club work, with junior, intermediate. 
and senior divisions of boys and girls, is carried on during the 
school months. The boys' work has been along literary and ath- 
letic lines. Miss Alta Thornton and Miss Rose Carnes, volun- 
teer assistants from the State Normal School, have aided in the 
girls' work, which has consisted of basket-weaving, scrap-book- 
making, drills and folk dances. 

On Wednesday evening from 7 to 9 130, the boys' brass band 
meets for practice. The privilege of being under the leadership 
of Mr. G. M. White of the Examiner Newsboys' Band is ap- 
preciated by the boys, who gladly meet the expense of instruction 
each practice night. 

The first Friday evening of each month is set aside for the 
Athena Literary and Musical Club, membership in which includes 
parents and children alike. 

LIBRARY. 

On June i8th, was opened Playground Station No. 2 of the 
Public Library. Children and adults may attend two afternoons 
and one evening a week. There are 396 names on the borrowers' 
list. This includes those who use the regular cards for city books, 
and those who use the playground cards for discards. In the 
evening session, those who attend enjoy the use of game tables 
and games. 

CELEBRATIONS. 

So popular a combination has the park and playground proved 
that, besides many smaller picnic parties which have made this 
their destination, sixteen large picnics from schools, churches and 
Sunday Schools have spoken ahead for special arrangements. 
Various match games, races and sports have been successfully con- 
ducted at these picnics. 

Arbor Day, March 6. — Arbor Day was observed in due form. 
The attendance of five schools, the Union Avenue, Temple, Custer, 
Logan and Casco Street Schools, made ])ossible a fine program. 
Promptly on time from the several directions, the children could 
be seen marching with fiying banners toward the meeting point 

17 



on the playground. Here they Hstened to patriotic addresses 
and followed the spirit of the day by planting trees for shade 
on the grounds. After the exercises, the twenty-five hundred 
enthusiastic school children and friends enjoyed a merry after- 
noon on the grounds. 

Club House Opening, May ^ofh. — May 30th signalled the 
formal opening of the new Club House. Five hundred invita- 
tions had been sent out to friends interested in the work, and 
the general public was also welcomed. Brief addresses were 
made by Mrs. Rodman, President of the Playground Commission, 
and by other city officials and leading citizens. The main ad- 
dress of the day was that of Mr. Lee F. Hanmer, of New York, 
Field Secretary of the Playground Association of America, who 
happened to be visiting Los Angeles in the interests of his work. 
Following the exercises, numerous gifts were presented by 
friends of the work 'for the decoration of the Club House. The 
ladies of the neighborhood served refreshments to the guests. 
Then all adjourned to the open-air games and contests on the 
playground. , 

Home Tournament, June 24th-^oth. — The first annual tourna- 
ment of the boys and girls of the home ground for championship 
in tennis, croquet and jack stones was held this week, proving 
an interesting occasion. Suitable prizes were provided for win- 
ners in the finals of the several events scheduled. 

Fourth of July. — Similar to celebration at Violet Street Play- 
ground. 




INTERIOR OF CLUB HOUSE — ECHO PARK PLAYGROUND 

18 



3433 



uo O '^ ^ '^' ^ ^' • CO -H <M 



l||U391JnOJ 



O 



JBpjSBQ 



C^ ro ^ ro 01 -01 



H^'n 



(>! . CO • ro ro 



rx 



'»i°!A 






vo 






c 
o 



^ 



;:: '^ 



^ ^ -t c ^ S 



UJ 


il; 


^ 


> 


CvJ 


rrt 


UJ 


a; 


CT; 


U- 


i-O 




U 


^ 


sU 


fe 


X 





J 


CTD 






.. 


X 



' ■ rt "^ ^ 

O rt ^j 
O IT" 03 



^ O 






o ^ 



« iZ u -S 



'^ -^ OJ 

■Ti m ^ 

;-H Ui ™ 

rt rt ^ 

>^ >^ S 

2 2 6 

^ ^ ^ 

f^ P^ '^ 

^ ^ -7. 

cy OJ rt 

Cci P^ pq 



oJ 



cl; 







a; 


rt 


CJ 


c^ 


P^ 









bjo 


rt 


OJ 


CO 


fe 


>> 


>-, 


^ 


OJ 



oj rt 
oj a; 



03 03 

P^ ^ 

>. >^ 

^ J5 

P^ p:^ 

o o 

-4—' 4—1 

o3 o3 

O O 



P^ pc^ ^ Pm _ 






X X X C/2 t/2 C/3 X X 

'^'H '-^TI ^1^ ^T^ 

o .n o .!n o .t: o -^ 

zp O P5 O PP O pq O 



b/) 

o3 



03 
P. 



^ 

3 






o3 v! ^ 

P2^ -C 



O -t 1^' O tx X' Cn O 



19 



special cars, running- to and from the various playgrounds, the 
generous treat of Mr. Howard E. Huntington, made it possible 
for hundreds of children to share in the tournament who other- 
wise could not have come. The Examiner Newsboys' Band 
made splendid music. The handsome silver cup presented by 
F. E. Wolfe, Managing Editor of the Herald, and pennants 
presented by the Dyas-Cline Co., and Wm. H. Hoegee Co., made 
the list of prizes for the teams complete. After the presentation 
of the cup and pennants. Superintendent Raitt distributed 500 
specially designed playground badge-buttons to those who com- 
posed the various teams. 

The evening was the occasion of a banquet given by the Play- 
ground Commission and Staff of workers in the auditorium of 
the Club House. Mayor Harper and Councilman Clampitt, with 
their families, together with several prominent educators, were 
guests of honor. This banquet and the conference which fol- 
lowed, brought to a close a series of successful Department con- 
ferences which had made possible the better systematizing of the 
summer work. 

Parking. — The Park Department, under Superintendent Mor- 
ley, has done much in this short time to beautify the playground. 
The lawns and flower beds south of the playground, the honey- 
suckle vines and rose bushes along the fence, and the growing 
acacia trees bordering the playground are surrounding the place 
with beauty. 

An annual report gives but general results. Deeper study into 
the great opportunities for the moral and physical development 
of the boys and girls on the playgrounds reveals, however, the 
wonderful field possible in this work. It is a well-known fact 
that a supervised playground in any city means a decrease in 
juvenile delinquency, and does away with quarreling and dis- 
putes in games, and in play life in general. It is also true that 
the boys and girls of the playground are the wide-awake scholars 
in the schoolroom. This fact is attested by the repeated ex- 
pressions of appreciation from teachers in the several schools 
in the vicinity of Echo Park Playground. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Oliver W. Best, 

Director. 



20 



As seen by above report, this ground has made vast progress 
in its second year. To make the place complete it is planned to 
add a handball court, and a children's wading pool, also a bun- 



galow for Director's home. 



One lot of the tract does not belong to the Playground, but 
is now under condemnation proceedings. When acquired, the 
northeast portion of the grounds will be improved. 

As in the case of the Violet Street Playground, it is planned 
to make use of the outdoor gymnasium in the evenings for the 
older boys and young men, when suitable arrangements for light- 
ing and instruction can be made. 




OUTDOOR GYMNASIUM -ECHO PARK PLAYGROUND 



21 




22 



decreation Center 

(Playground No. 3) 

Location, Eighth Ward, corner of St. John and 
Holly Streets. Si::;e of lot, 200 by 120 feet to alley. 
Opened October 10, 1908. 



t 



This combination of playground and recreation 
building is called Recreation Center to distinguish 
it from the playgrounds not so well equipped with 
indoor facilities for play. This term is becoming a 
familiar one in cities where playground work has 
made most progress. It implies that much is to be 
found besides children's apparatus ; that many oppor- 
tunities are given for cultivation of mind and body, 
and these opportunities not only for children, but 
for people of all ages ; that this place, in short, fills 



for its neighborhood an all-round social need. This 



1 

V need, so poignantly felt in the modern community, 
^^^K^ with its mixture of nationalities, its rapid change of 
^^^ residents, its lack of neighborhood intercourse and 
tradition, may be met by the Recreation Center, which is becom- 
ing more and more a municipal social settlement. The growing 
movement to establish these Centers in cities and towns, the 
splendid results that have followed their establishment, point to 
a new function now being undertaken by the commonwealth, a 
function that some day may be counted as important as that of 
the public schools. 

The land for this Center was purchased previous to this year 
at a cost of $8943.90, of which $1000 was subscribed by the 
Cudahy Packing Co. and Maier and Zobelein Brewing Co., in 
equal amounts. The building, when last payment is met, will 
have cost the city $20,681.11. Indoor apparatus, running track, 
bowling alleys, lockers, furniture and furnishings will aggregate 
about $5600.00. A substantial iron fence surrounds two sides 
of the grounds, a wooden fence is in the rear. Shrubs, vines and 
flowers will soon beautify the whole place. 

Co-operation with the following departments is a much-ap- 
preciated feature of this Center. , 

23 



LIBRARY. 

The Public Library has estabhshed a third Playground Station 
at this Center. 

DISTRICT NURSE. 

One of the District Nurses working for the city under the 
College Settlement, has been given a room for her station. 

Very shortly a medical dispensary will be opened two days 
a week with two leading physicians volunteering their services. 

Following is a general report of the work of the Center as 
given by its Manager, Charles H. Mills : 

To Miss Bessie D. Stoddart, 

Secretary of the Playground Commission. 

Dear Madam : — I take pleasure in complying with your request 
for a report on the work of the Recreation Center. 

It was a great day for the City of Los Angeles on the loth 
of October, when a thousand people passed through the busy 
foundry and factory district to the corner of St. John and Holly 
Streets to witness the opening of the beautiful new Recreation 
Center, the only institution of its kind in the western part of 
the country. 

A parade of automobiles, bearing city officials and other 
prominent citizens, headed by the Examiner Newsboys' Band, 
left the City Hall at 2 130, and as the machines came whizzing 
around the corner of Holly Street, cheer after cheer from hun- 
dreds of eager throats greeted them. 

At three o'clock the bright, cheerful auditorium was crowded 
with people to listen to inaugural addresses by Mrs. Rodman, 
Mayor Harper and Dr. Charles E. Locke, while the band played 
merrily outside in the open playground, accompanied by the 
joyous shouts of the children. 

Again in the evening the gymnasium, which serves also as 
an auditorium, was packed to overflowing by men, women and 
children. Commissioner Lamb and Councilman Healy greeted 
the audience, after which Superintendent Raitt, Charles Howard 
Mills, Manager of the Recreation Center, and Wesley H. Beach, 
Physical Instructor, explained the plans of the work to be car- 
ried on in this building. Miss M. Gertrude Hards, Supervisor 
of Girls' Work, gave a reading, and a program of gymnastic 
work by High School students finished the exercises. 

24 



Both afternoon and evening the building was open for pubhc 
inspection and a large reception committee of interested citizens 
was busy for hours guiding people from the basement to the 
roof garden. 

Starting at the lobby on the ground floor, a pleasant ^oom 
with fireplace, designed among other things to serve as a checker- 
room in the evening, the Recreation Center is found to contain 
many attractions. 

First, there are the two model bowling alleys, well lighted 
and ventilated, and with room for on-lookers to enjoy the games. 

Passing through these, we find the shower room, equipped 
with a fine system of ten marble-walled baths, the flooring of 
terrazzo. 

Adjoining the shower room is the locker room, with two 
hundred and eighty of the best ventilated, double-lock, steel 
lockers. 

On this floor are also a large storeroom, and a furnace room, 
the latter fitted with the latest automatic instantaneous gas heat- 
ers for the baths. 

In another corner of the first floor, with separate entrance from 
the street, is the headquarters of the District Nurse. This room, 
finished in white enamel, with rounded corners, terrazzo flooring 
and plenty of shelves and cupboards, is a model supply room 
and dispensary. 




GYMNASIUM FROM STAGE - RECREATION CENTER 



The main feature of the Recreation Center, of course, is the 
gymnasium. This room measures 44 by 80 feet, is two stories 
in height, and is Hghted and ventilated on three sides. A run- 
ning track at the second story serves also as a gallery for on- 
lookers. The best of apparatus equips the gymnasium. This 
apparatus can all be removed, and the gymnasium can thus be- 
come an auditorium. 

At one end of the gymnasium is a stage, measuring 18 by 
20 feet. Except when the gymnasium is used as an auditorium, 
this room is shut off by rolling door, and serves as a club room. 

To one side of the combination stage and club room is a 
library, properly fitted up for a branch of the Public Library, 
To the other side is a kitchen, where refreshments may be pre- 
pared for entertainments. 

In the mezzanine floor over the library is a combined club 
room and shop, where it is designed to have some manual work. 
Over the kitchen is the Physical Instructor's room, fitted with 
scales and all necessary appliances for taking measurements, 
and with card catalogues for keeping exact physical records 
of all who take gymnasium work. 

Above the mezzanine, across the front of the building, is a 
simple but artistic little apartment of five rooms, the residence 
of the Manager. 




RECREATION CENTER 

26 




BOWLING ALLEYS AT RECREATION 
CENTER 

A last flight of stairs brings one to the roof garden, extend- 
ing over the front of the building. This has a wonderfully fine 
panoramic view of the city and of the mountains in the distance. 
Overhead is a pergola roof which will be covered with vines, 
having their, roots in the large flower boxes which surround 
the railing on the outside. In one corner is a sand box for 
little children. The roof garden will be used for nursery pur- 
poses in the daytime. In the evening it will be used in social 
ways, for it is well lighted with electricity. 

From the very start the most loyal and efficient support has 
been lent to the management by the patrons of the Center 
and the people of the neighborhood in helping to maintain a 
systematic daily schedule of work. 

In the afternoons the playground is always alive with children 
swinging, racing, playing volley ball, basket ball, indoor base- 
ball, and group games, according to ages. 

The gymnasium is used four afternoons a week for regular 
classes of girls and boys. The library is under the direction 
of a librarian, and patrons may draw out books two afternoons 
and one evening a week. 

The main club room is used every afternoon, two afternoons 
in connection with library work, four afternoons with clubs. 

There is no greater attraction in the building than the bowl- 
ing alleys, and the balls run almost constantly from two o'clock 
until nine-thirty every day. With the boys and young men the 
privilege to bowl is given as a reward for behavior and regular 
attendance at gymnasium class and club meeting. 



During the week there are meetings of eleven different clubs : 
four young men's clubs, organized for basket ball, baseball, 
bowling and social times ; the "Woman's Progressive Club," the 
young women's social club; the girls' sewing circle, and the 
"Recreation Center Boys' Club," including four divisions. 
Every boy between the ages of eight and fifteen who attends 
the Center is a member of this R. C. B. C. Each section comes 
once a week for club meeting, twice for gymnasium work, and 
twice for bowling. 

The classes in the gymnasium work include separate divisions 
for boys, young women, young men, married women, and older 
men. 

The girls and women have made for themselves uniform 
suits and present a pleasing spectacle when lined up for calis- 
thenics, folk dancing and drills. 

In the male gymnasium work the Instructor carries out a 
splendid system of physical training. The apparatus work 
throws much responsibility upon a strong corps of leaders, com- 
posed of the boys themselves. The instructor spends one evening 
training these leaders, helping them to become proficient on the 
flying rings, the horse, the vaulting bar, the buck, the horizontal 
bar, the climbing ladder, the mats, and numerous other pieces 
of apparatus. Then in the regular class work, each leader is 
assigned his section of five boys, which he likewise instructs. 

The physical examinations are about to take place and the 
gymnasium work will be put upon the most scientific basis pos- 
sible. Every person who attends will have an opportunity for 
the greatest physical improvement. 

Every Saturday evening the main club room becomes a stage 
with regular headlights and footlights, the gymnasium becomes 
an auditorium, and a splendid entertainment is given for all. 
Some of the best artists of the city have given their services on 
the programs. So far, the entertainments have included literary, 
dramatic, musical, and athletic numbers and stereopticon lectures. 

Often the young people plan and give their own socials and 
parties, a number of which have been exceptionally well man- 
aged. 

The patrons of the institution have shown their appreciation 
of what the city is doing for them by making an effort to take 
care of the building and to use its facilities in the right way. 

28 



2. 53 
3 



>• 


W2^ 


5 

s 


H. eS 


o 


a^ © 




S 


«H| 



^> 



3^1 



»: 3 



3 S s 
=• X o 



s:^^ 






= 2 3 

5 ^ § 












•i 


ST 


J^ 


^ 


p 


» 


95 


a 


Bi 


9i 


n 


3 


3 




3 


3 




a* 


a 


« 


ffl 


« 


« 


O 


m 


CO 


ao 


CB 


% 


v. 





CO 


•J 


? 


g 


01 


CO 


o 


M 


o 


? 


f^ 


»3 


Vi • 


S 3 






C 


3 



CO ^s 

CO CO 

?? 

*«. CO 



2^ 

-i o 



w CO b 

?? ? 

CO CO b 

o o o 



* 2 •?• 

3 3 o ft 

3 V-- 

19 » 

2 5" 



o o 

Cn CO 



2^ 



o o 



'» 2 

= 5 



c 
z 

Q 
> 



m 
n 
pa 

O 



n 
z 

H 

m 

m 
a 

c 

r 
n 



? 


M 

'g 


CO 
M 

o 


01 






8 






r 


■g 





o* 


« 




2 


3 


05 








«<- 







i I 



I' 



e S 
3 o- 
3 

OR 
3 



o 


^ 


iO 


8 


g 


8 




CO 


Cn 


«3 


M 


© 


§ 


© 


© 


3 


2 

3 


© 

3 

3 



CO QC 

CO b 
© © 

li 



^2 

© « 

3 3 



8 8 8 









icp CO 

h:?3t 



>w b 



'^2 

Sen 
"1 1-^ 



®2 



bdk 
©? 



^2 

3*? 



6" S 

!^ 23* 

O --« 

- 3g 

d 5 






O CO 

is 

3 



© 



ifi 3*3- 

© 3;« 

2. a3 

as "1 






li 



s 

^o 



" 3 



2S© 



5^! 



3S? 

O CO 

i? 

3 



Is 



2 



CO 

? 

CO 

3 



?8 









3» 



The attendance, including all who are accommodated by the 
various facilities of the Center and playground, amounts to over 
2300 weekly. When it is considered that the place has not yet 
been running two months, this record is surprising. 

It is gratifying to note that already several earnest testimonies 
from persons in the immediate neighborhood have been volun- 
teered, pointing out the moral grasp that the Recreation Center 
is beginning to have upon the young people and children who 
enjoy its privileges. 

Respectfully, 
Charles Howard Mills, 

Manager. 

The present building forms but one wing of the structure 
that is planned for the future. A corresponding wing will then 
contain a complete modern plunge. The connecting building 
will furnish increased facilities for library and club work, for 
baths and for other accommodations. It is hoped that individuals 
may become interested in this ideal Center to help make it 
possible. 

The playground connected with this Center is small, and will 
be smaller with a complete building. But the Downey Avenue 
Playground, not far away, is about to be equipped, and will 
take the outdoor games that require much space. 




DRUM AND BUGLE CORPS -RECREATION CENTER 
30 



©olano atjenue piapgrounD 

(Playground Xo. 4) 

Location, Second Ward, Solano Avenue. Area about three- 
fifths of an acre. City land, dedicated by Council for playground 
purposes, November 12, 1906. Opened May 14, 1907. 

This ground is small and is equipped very simply for hand- 
ball, basket ball and croquet. It has been used by the neigh- 
borhood principally without supervision. Certain hours a day, 
from December to September, however, a Director has been in 
charge this past year. 

An arrangement has now been made whereby the Special 
School, located in the Solano Avenue School, has the use, care 
and oversight of the ground during the school year; but the 
ground ma}^ be used also by the neighborhood, as a common. 

A very pleasant celebration was held on July Fourth, when 
racing contests for prizes were held, and lemonade was served 
to visitors. 

!^a5arD piapgrounD 

(Playground No. 5) 

Location, Ninth Ward, part of forty-acre tract originally do- 
nated to city for park purposes by private individual. Area of 
playground, about eleven acres. Granted by Council, November 
28, 1906, and again August 20, 1907, a better piece being sub- 
stituted. 

This beautiful piece of land will probably make the finest 
of all the playgrounds, as the city grows. It will be connected 
with a park of some twenty-three acres. A school site, part of 
the original forty-acre tract, also adjoins it. This combination 
of park, school and playground will prove an ideal arrangement. 

A survey of the park and playground land has been made. 

Mr. Wilbur David Cook, landscape architect, has kindly volun- 
teered his services for planning the playground. 

Thirty-three European sycamore trees were planted on the 
grounds on Arbor Day, bordering the line of the Pasadena 
Railway. To keep these watered the Water Department kindly 
laid the necessary piping. 

The celebration on Arbor Day was a very i:)leasant occasion. 
Some five hundred school children and two hundred adults were 
present to take part in the exercises. 

Equipment of the grounds will be pusliL'd early in the year. 

31 




32 



Dotonep auenue piapgrounD 

(Playground No. 6) 

Location^ First Ward, south of Dozvney Avenue, near river. 

This ground originally comprised a little over six acres. In 
the past year the Council has disposed of a portion of the land 
to the Salt Lake Railroad, so that the playground now con- 
tains but three acres. 

This ground is admirably located in a thickly populated dis- 
trict. It will be equipped as soon as possible for ball field and 
various sports requiring space, and later on, further improve- 
ments will be added. It is aimed to make it similar in equip- 
ment to the Violet Street and Echo Park Playgrounds. 

©Iau0on atienue piapgrounD 

(Playground No. 7) 

The City Water Department kindly added a new playground 
to the list in May of this year. Four acres of a nine-acre tract, 
belonging to that Department, and located at Slauson and Comp- 
ton Avenues, were turned over to the Playground Commission 
to equip as a playground. 

Equipment of this ground will be commenced at once. It 
is located in a rapidly-growing district, and lies three miles 
from the nearest playground and a mile from the only park in 
that quarter of the city. 

l^acation piapgrounDs; 

Castelar Street School, Nezv Macy Street School, Utah Street 
School, Fourteenth Street School. 

The Castelar, Utah, and Fourteenth Street Vacation Play- 
grounds experienced a very successful summer, operating from 
July 6th to September i6th. This year the New Macy ground 
remained closed, owing to proximity to other grounds. 

The Fourteenth Street ground was new this vear. The chil- 
dren, teachers and Child Study Circle had given to the Play- 
ground Department $100 towards its equipment. In March it 
was fitted up with swings, baby swings, ladders, bars, rings, 
teeter-boards, maypole, volley ball, and croquet, at a total cost 
of about $450. The School Department met the cost of erecting 
the pipe apparatus, and supplied basket ball goals. As the 

33 



grounds are large, this makes an excellent playground both in 
vacation and in the school year, when, like the other Vacation 
Playgrounds, it is operated by the School Department. 

This year there was the usual man director at each ground, 
and, in addition, a woman director. This was a great improve- 
ment upon last summer, when one woman divided her time 
among three grounds. 

Team work was organized and various meets were held, end- 
ing with the big Inter-Playground Track-Meet at the close of 
vacation. 

Sewing and raffia weaving were instituted for the girls this 
year. At Utah Street Playground, a large and very successful 
sewing school was conducted under volunteer leadership. 

The baths at Utah Street and Castelar Street Playgrounds 
were in the usual demand. School and district nurses took 
charge of the girls' bathing, while the boys were cared for by 
the men directors. 

The grounds were open until dark six days a week. The 
attendance was as follows (counting once during the day) : 
Castelar Street, 9122; Utah Street, 13,704; Fourteenth Street, 
10,765. 

A gift of $400 has been made by the firm of Hunt, Eager 
& Burns, playground architects, who have in former years 
made generous gifts of service. This sum will be used to form 




GIRLS' BASKET BALL CONTEST- VIOLET STREET PLAYGROUND 

34 



a new department in the permanent playgrounds, that of play- 
ground bands. Instruments will be purchased, which will be 
kept at the grounds, for the use of the boys and girls until they 
can secure instruments of their own. The cost of director and 
instruction will be met by the young people. 



The following schedule has just been arranged by Super- 
intendent Raitt for afternoon work on the playgrounds : 



Time 

12-12:30 

2-2:30 
2:30-3 



PLAYGROUND SCHEDULE. 

Division Age Sex Activities 



General All Boys j General games with no special 

Girls ( divisions. 

Kindgrt. 5-6-7-8 Boys ^Sand pile, story telling, paper cut- 
Girls ) ting, block building, games. 

( Block building, story telling, bas- 
Juniors 9-10-11 Boys -| ket work, gardening, light gym. 
( work, races, games. 

! Block building, story telling, bas- 
ket wor'k, gardening, sewing, 
races, games. 

3-3:45 Intermdts. 12-13-14 Boys j^^"^' ^^^ °^^^^^ S^"^^'' contests, 

-' I gardening. 

(Match games, contests, basket 
Girls } work, sewing, gardening, drills, 
folk dances. 

3:45-4:30 Seniors 15-20 Boys i ^^*^^ S^^^^' contests, gym work. 

n-i^io i Match games, contests, drills, folk 
dances. 



Girls 



4:30-5 



General 



All 



Boys (General games with no special 
Girls 1 divisions. 



NOTES. 

The last Saturday afternoon in each month will be given over to 
races and contests for individual and team records. Said records of 
all playgrounds must be posted on each ground the following Tuesday. 
In all cases where possible, the world's amateur record should lead. 

Playground Directors and Assistants will be required to organize 
teams to represent the different divisions of boys and girls. The Juniors, 
Intermediates and Seniors will be represented by their teams in baseball, 
basket ball, volley ball, indoor baseball, handball, croquet and gym- 
nastics, with the exception that the girls will not be required to have 
baseball teams, nor will the Juniors be represented in basket ball teams. 

No team record will hold good unless there are ten players or con- 
testants in the team. 

The judges at all contests or trials will be the Director and Assistant 
on the home ground. 

The first trial will be held December 26, 1908. 



35 



Neat gray uniforms were adopted by Directors and Assistants 
last May. 

Once a month the playground staff and members of the Com- 
mission meet at Recreation Center or Club House, taking supper 
together, and devoting the evening to discussing ways and means 
of promoting the usefulness of the playgrounds. All find in- 
spiration in these meetings and in exchange of ideas. 

Too much cannot be said for the general enthusiasm and 
devotion to work manifested by the playground staff. 

The work of the Superintendent has been very heavy during 
the past year, owing to the amount of building and equipping 
in progress. An extra Director has been given charge of the 




STORY HOUR AT VACATION PLAYGROUND courtesy of 

EXAMINER 



36 



bookkeeping of the Department, and of other detail work, thus 
leaving the Superintendent freer for supervising the grounds 
and for planning and overseeing construction. The cost of 
equipment of grounds is reduced very materially by the Superin- 
tendent's knowledge of the various building trades. 

As the grounds are often miles apart, a motorcycle has been 
ordered, so that the Superintendent may more readily visit those 
in operation and attend to the details of construction in those 
that are being equipped. 

The Superintendent has given service in planning school 
playgrounds, also in planning the outdoor gymnasium of Brown- 
son House Settlement. 

The Department will soon have a much-needed office in the 
City Hall. A large room on the fourth floor is being partitioned 
ofif and furnished. 

In many parts of Los Angeles there are demands for play- 
grounds. Citizens in Boyle Heights, Pico Heights, Garvanza, 
in the southern part of the city, and in other localities, are 
asking for local playgrounds. 

The President and Secretary have been asked frequently to 
address clubs and other meetings, both in this city and in other 
towns, on the subject of playgiounds. In response to an invita- 
tion, Dr. Lamb spoke upon the subject of Los Angeles Play- 
grounds, at the State Conference of Charities and Corrections 
held in Oakland, in September. 

Los Angeles Playground Reports have been sent for from 
many parts of the United States, also from England and Argen- 
tine Republic, and many letters of inquiry have been answered. 
Pictures of our local grounds have been sent by request to the 
following: "American Playgrounds," the "Playground Maga- 
zine," the "World's Work," the International Fair in San An- 
tonio, the Playground Museum in New York, and the Museum 
of Education in Buenos Ay res. 

Many people from the East and North have visited the grounds 
during the year. 

37 



In Alay, Mr. Lee F. Hanmer, Field Secretary of the Play- 
ground Association of xA.merica, made a tour of the Pacific Coast, 
promoting playground work. Addresses were made in many 
cities, including Los Angeles. Wherever he went his presence 
and advice were an aid to the cause. 

The Second Annual Congress of the Playground Association 
of America was held in New York in September. To this Con- 
gress invitations were sent by the Playground Commission and 
Mayor Harper, by the Chamber of Commerce, and Municipal 
League, to meet in Los Angeles in 1910. It is to be hoped that 
this may come about, for such a meeting would be of inestimable 
value not only locally, but to the whole Coast. 

The Secretary was made a Vice-President of the recent Con- 
gress. One of her duties was to work up the matter of observing 
Sunday, September 6th, as Playground Day in the local churches. 
This was conforming to a general plan to have that day set 
aside in many of the large cities of the land. 

The President has been made a member of the Council of the 
Playground Association of America. 




CLUB OF "KING ARTHUR'S KNIGHTS' 



COURTESY OF 
TIMES 



38 



The Playground Department is grateful to all who have been 
of such kind assistance : To the City Departments, which have 
steadily given their co-operation in the work, to the many in- 
dividuals and firms that have made gifts, and to the host of 
volunteer helpers who have served in Club work and lecture 
courses. The interest and generous endorsement of the public 
at large have given great impetus and inspiration. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Bessie D. Stoddart, 
Secretary. 




39 



> 

< 


CO 




o 


to 






(M 




d 


'^ 




o 


<B- 




M 






^ 


^ 


T— 1 


a- 


r^ 


t>- 








n 


o 


■^ 


a; 


00 


o 


U 


lO 


iO 



. lO • • • 
. lO • • • 


• (M • • • 

• • . o • • • 


• t-" ■ • ■ 


, 1— 1 ......ill 



lO O O t^ Oi 

ca o o L--- o 

O" to O 1-1 C^5 

Oi QO LO CO rO 

00 O CO Ci 



o t- o 

o 00 t- 

tH lo' I-^ 

CO O lO 



lO I— t 



lO 



o 
o 

O I— I -TtH C<1 
Ci C5 CO M 
rH T-H CO 



L- CO LO 

cq CO c<i 

ci ^ cs' 

■^ I— I 



O <lO 

o oq 

O 1:0" 

CO ,H 
CO 



H 
Z 



z 

< 
z 









LO 

10 


10 


i—i 

CO 







§ 







co 



LO 






10 




10 


CD 




1— 1 











• CO 

: ^* 

CO 














CO 
CO 
CO 

I— 1 













^ m '-'^ r-j 

OQ P^ Q 02 



be 



o g ^ 

O cS S 

£3 TO 



rirrS Old o-iil^ i=l^ 



<ii o o >^ < 



k 




'Ph 


OQ 





< 


2 


02 


b 


0) 









.2 


US 

Pi 





3 








pq 


^ 


<1 


02 


<1 



bX)4^ 
I ^ 
a o 






•s 


S 


(h 


"* 








&bH 


a 


■t^ 


-M 


fl 


^ 


03 


&« 


fl 






■ ' 


^ 


1=1 


cii 

Oh 


03 


Q 


-t-> 




-a 


>^ 


bc^ 



(U o 



O W 






flH O ^ 






40 



o • . • • • • o 

lO '-'^. 

. . o 

. . Ci 

• • '^ 

• • LO 

■ * rJH 



o 
o 


tH 


o 

(M 


CM 


§ 


LO 
TO 







o 

i-H 


o 
o 


o 

o 


o 

LO 


CO 
(M 


ro 


o 


o 


lO 


ro 



CVl T— I 



ro 


r-) 


IC 


(-, 


o 


o 


C<J 


O 


O 


O 


(M 


o 


LO 


G^l 


rH 




<-) 


Ol 


Oi 


^ 


o 


00 


tH 


t- 


(M 




rH 


o 


(>4 









lO lO p 

(M O t-. 

06 ci ^ 

(M '^ 



be 






2 ^ 



o 
O 



o 



BC 



9^ •? S :« 



O J3 



rr-! fl « 

^ S > 

M s s 

•- S s 



(U 



a s « 

,_( rpt I— I 



O 

■^ a> c3 <?3 •- 

_,- ^ ^ « - g ,"2 1; «rt '-' 

1? cy r^ t» p 2 ::3 

O ?H O (—1 rH Cu TO ^-H '^ vi^ TT 



^ H O O ^ O 



^ , 


r< 


^ 


fl 


a 


^ 






























w 







OJ 


cc 


03 




bf) 


s 


fl 


S 


s 


7i 


s 


g 


s 


a 














Ph 


CJ 


Q 








^ 


^ 


^ 


^ 


^ 




+^ 


-+j 




."t^ 



^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 



02 



d 

fl 02 ^ 

O fi ^3 

s -s w 



i=l =^ ^^ 

:^ )-M 02 r^ rt 
S H ^ g "^ 



r2 ^ W 02 « 



■ S rt 



CO 


m 



00 



05 











Ci5 




Ph 


Ph 




Ph 












<U 


QJ 


<D 


CD 








-r! 


'~^ 


TH 




H 


r-i 


r-, 


r^, 


(—) 


(—> 




































f-l 


)0 


>o 


)o 





10 


•0 







I-H 


CO 




CM 







»o 




-fi 



;h 


J-H 


a> 


IK 


-M 


-l-> 




d 


<D 


0) 


CJ 





s 


rt 





n 










Pi 


rt 





a> 









u 





a> 


w 


« 


«4-i 


<4-l 









^ si) 






41 



aiD to piapgrounD0 

Interest in the Playgrounds, and aid in carrying on the work, 
has come from various sources, both private and public, and 
the Commission gratefully acknowledges the following favors 
and gifts: 

VIOLET STREET PLAYGROUND: 

Roll-top desk, Superintendent's office — Charles Barker. 
Twelve loads gravel — Eamish and Marsh. 
Christmas distribution: 

Over 100 presents — Children Christ Church Sunday School. 

Provisions — Group of Friends. 

Twenty-five pounds candy — Kahn-Beck Co. 
Telephone— Home Tel. & Tel. Co. 

Telephone, one-half business rates — Pacific Tel. & Tel. Co. 
Table and table croquet set — Mrs. A. G. Wells. 

$31.00 expended in new books for Library — Mrs. Spencer H. Smith. 
Books for Library — Miss Maud Whitlock. 
Books for Library — Various Friends. 

Wooden borders for forty-five gardens — Mrs. Andrew Glassell. 
Freight, three carloads gravel — Santa Fe Railway Co. 
Load of fertilizer — Park Department. 

Wiring for arc light and lighting, four months ($17.50) — Department 
ot Electricity. 

Certificate of title ($27.20)— City Council. 

ECHO PARK PLAYGROUITO: 

Opening of Club House, May 30th: 

Bust of Lincoln and four pictures — Group of Neighbors. 

Books, four plants — Mrs. Andrew Glassell. 

Two pictures— Mrs. W. W. Stilson. 

Fern — Mrs. J. H. Swanberg. 

Fern— Mis. H. C. Terrill. 

Jardiniere — Mrs. P. F. McManus. 

Two leather cushions, window seats — A. H. Voight, Cal. Furn. Co. 

Two Ferns — Park Department. 

Prizes: 

Playground Contests, May 30th — Jones Book Store, The Ark, Way 
and Driggers, Oliver W. Best. 

Telephone, one-half business rates — Pacific Tel. & Tel. Co. 

Loan, three pictures for vacation — Circulating Art Cabinet of Civic 
Association. 

Two carloads beach sand for sand-boxes, also transportation — H. E. 
Huntington. 

Use of Chain Gang loading, hauling, unloading sand, also grading, 
etc. — Board of Public Works. 

Parking — Park Department. 

42 



RECREATION CENTER: 

Telephone, one-half business rates — Home Tel. & Tel. Co. 

Books — Mrs. Andrew Glassell. 

Vase — Mrs. A. C. Balch. 

Two original books and reference work — Charles F. Lummis. 

Book of original poems — Charles Keeler. 

''Eucalyptus Grove," oil painting by G. Eedman. A gift of $35.00 
by John T. Eowntree secured this beautiful and many times more val- 
uable picture, through the generosity of the artist, and of the art 
dealer. — John T. Eowntree, G. Eedman, J. F. Kanst. 

For pictures, bas-reliefs, etc.: 

$5.00 — Mrs. N. B. Blackstone. 

$25.00 — Mrs. Melville Johnston. 
$100.00 allowed on purchase of $150.00 piano — Geo. J. Birkel Co. 
For opening: 

Concert on field — Examiner Newsboys' Band. 

Loan of electric light festoons — Department of Electricity. 

Men to wire for electric lighting — Dept. of Police & Fire Alarm. 

Loan of wagon load of plants and gift of cut flowers and two 
ferns — Park Department. 

Gravel for playground, 73 loads — Street Department. 

Water piping for playground — Water Department. 

HAZARD PLAYGROUND: 

Over 1,000 feet three-fourths-inch water piping laid — Water Depart- 
ment. 

VACATION PLAYGROUNDS: 

$100 towards equipment Fourteenth Street School Playground — Four- 
teenth Street School. 

GENERAL: 

$250 for celebration of July Fourth, Violet Street, Echo Park and 
Solano Avenue Playgrounds — City Council. 
For Inter-Playground Track Meet: 

Silver cup — The Herald. 

Two pennants — Dyas-Cline Sporting Goods Co. 

Three pennants — Wm. H. Hoegee Co. 

Four cars to bring children to and from meet — H. E. Huntington. 

Concert on field — Examiner Newsboys' Band. 

For Libraries — Violet Street Playground, Echo Park Playground, Eec- 
reation Center: 
Daily newspapers— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Examiner, Los 

Angeles Express. 
For Echo Park Playground — Los Angeles Herald. 
Playground literature— Boston Normal School of Gymnastics. 
$400 (this will be used to purchase instruments for brass bands to be 
organized at playgrounds)— Hunt, Eager and Burns. 
$15 towards brass bands — Mrs. Wesley Clark. 

43 



Iplai2oroun& IRotee 




In the United States there are 137 cities 
of a population of 5000 or over that maintain 
playgrounds largely or entirely supported by 
public taxation. 

Law recently enacted by Massachusetts: 
Section 1. Every city and town in the 
commonwealth having a population of more 
than ten thousand accepting the provisions of 
this act shall, after the first day of July, in 
the year nineteen hundred and ten, provide 
and maintain at least one public playground 
conveniently located and of suitable size and 
equipment, for the recreation and physical 
education of the minors of such city or town, 
and at least one other playground for every 
additional twenty thousand of its population. 
Section 2. Cities and towns may appoint, 
and determine the compensation of, a quali- 
fied supervisor of each playground, who shall 
direct the sports and exercises thereon. 
Of 39 cities and towns that have voted upon this question, 37 have 
voted for playgrounds. 

New York City expended $15,000,000 in eight years upon playgrounds. 
One ground of about two acres cost $1,811,000, showing the necessity 
of a city securing land before values become so great. 

Chicago has the most complete system of playgrounds and recreation 
centers in the world. That city expended $11,000,000 in three years in 
this department. 

Boston, during the summer of 1910, will operate 82 playgrounds. 

Pittsburg has adopted a plan for providing 13 new recreation centers, 
to cost $2,000,000. 

The playground movement is making rapid progress upon the Pacific 
Coast. 

Seattle has nine playgrounds upon which has been expended $134,000, 
and that city has still larger projects in mind. 

Spokane, Portland and Oakland also have big plans for playground 
systems. 

San Francisco, since the fire, voted bonds to the amount of $724,000 
for purchase of playgrounds. 

Alameda, with a population of 30,000, has recently expended, upon 
four combined playgrounds and parks, $117,000. 

44 



Many other cities in California are beginning to provide public play- 
grounds. 

In Southern California we find Pasadena, San Diego and Santa Bar- 
bara very active in promoting the movement. 

In California we find over 49 per cent of the population living in 
cities of 4,000 or more inhabitants. Wherever playgrounds go in these 
or smaller communities they will make for better health and social con- 
ditions. 

California has over 10,000 inmates in her State Prisons, Eeformatories, 
Insane Asylums and Home for Feeble-Minded, besides the many other 
thousands of morally and mentally unfit cared for by county and munici- 
pality. There are other thousands of inhabitants cut off from useful 
citizenship by tuberculosis and other preventable diseases. Will not the 
vital playground movement, which is rapidly gaining a stronghold in our 
State, with its aim to provide for physical development and helpful 
social relationships, be a great influence in stemming the tide of youth 
headed towards keeping up this vast army of wasted humanity? Will not 
a few hundred thousands of dollars expended now for upbuilding insure 
us against the loss of added millions in the maintenance of police, courts, 
jails, asylums, orphanages, hospitals and charities, if but a fraction of 
that tide can be turned? 




VACATION PLAYGROUND 
45 



COURTESY OF 
EXAMINER 



Iplaijarounb ©pinions 



"I do not know anything which will contribvite more to the strength 
and morality of. that generation of boys and girls compelled to remain a 
part of urban populations in this country, than the institution in their 
cities of playgrounds, where their hours of leisure can be occupied by 
rational and healthful exercise." — PEESIDENT TAFT. 

''The 'boy problem,' as we call it, is really the grown-up problem. 
The boy is all right. He breaks our laws, but he does so in obedience 
to a law that is older than ours, a law that has never failed to get its 
way or else to impose a penalty — and to collect it. The penalty, as is 
the way with such penalties, is collected of the victim. It is being 
collected now in our jails and penitentiaries, in weakened and perverted 
lives; the normal and inevitable results of allowing the best force that 
Nature has put into the child, the force that was meant to build him 
up and make a man of him, to go to waste or to be turned into abnormal 
or anti-social channels. 

' ' Against the deeper law it is we who are the transgressors. ' They rea- 
son ill who leave me out,' may be said of Nature as well as of the spirit. 
And when 'the children were left out in the planning of our cities,' when 
we closed Nature's path against the growing child, we made it mathe- 
matically certain that he should seek some other path or cease to grow 
at all. If opportunity for play is denied, and by just so far as it is 
denied, stunting and perversion are the absolutely inevitable results." 

—JOSEPH LEE. 

"The universal impulse to play is a divinely ordered thing. If God 
gives the instinct, man ought to provide the playground." 

— JOSIAH STEONG. 

"It would be difficult to find any point at which, in our large cities, 
a dollar will go further in the making of those things for which the 
city exists than in the provision and maintenance of playgrounds. ' ' 

— ELMEE E. BEOWN. 

"All animal life is sensitive to environment, but of all living things 
the child is the most sensitive. A child absorbs environment. It is the 
most susceptible thing in the world to influence, and if that force be 
applied rightly and constantly when the child is in its most receptive 
condition, the effect will be pronounced, immediate and permanent. 

"Any form of education which leaves one less able to meet every-day 
emergencies and occurrences is unbalanced and vicious, and will lead any 
people to destruction. . . . Education which makes us lazier and more 
Helpless is of no use. ' ' — LUTHEE BUEBANK. 

"Here lies the function of the Playground. It gives the individual 
the opportunity for mastery of his body under conditions of increasing 
diflaculties in its varied physical activities. It also gives the opportunity 
for the social experiences of democracy of self and group government. 
It is the school for physical and social self -discovery and self -direction." 

-DE. LUTHEE HALSEY GULICK. 

46 



"The farmer allows one acre for 150 chickens. A city acre, 200 by 
217 feet, may provide a school or neighborhood playground for 1,000 or 
],oOO children.'' — STEWART. 

"In dealing with the problem of crime in youth, we shall make prog- 
ress just in proportion as we appreciate the absurdity of limiting our 
remedies to the court, the jailer and the hangman. Our plea for public 
playgrounds is a plea for justice to the boy. We are literally crowding 
him off the earth. We have no right to deny him his heritage, but that 
is just what we are doing in nearly every large city in this country, 
and he is hitting back, and hitting hard, when he does not mean to, 
while we vaguely understand and stupidly punish him for crime. Why 
shouldn't he rebel? The amazing thing is that he is not worse than 
he is." —JUDGE BEN E. LINDSEY. 

"In these playgrounds and in their work lie the beginning of social 
redemption of the people in large cities. They furnish the spectacle of 
a city saving itself; of the people of a great city finding nature and God 
by finding their neighbors and themselves." 

—BERNARD A. ECKHART. 

' ' There is another point of view which maintains that no matter 
how great the cost^ the value of the boy saved is inestimably beyond it. 
This point of view is suggested by that Master of practical life Who 
knew full well the value of money, even the widow's mite. For what 
shall it profit a city if it gain the whole world and lose the souls of its 
children?" —ALLEN T. BURNS. 

"Man plays only where he is a human being in the fullest sense of 
the word, and he has reached full humanity only when he plays." 

—SCHILLER. 




"IN CHILDISH PLAY DEEP MEANING UES "<- FROEBEL 
47 




■Happy hearts and happy faces, 
Happy play in grassy places; 
That was how in ancient ages 
Children grew to kings and sages." 

-ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. 



48 



D. SxoDiwi 



rm 



ll^KER P, Ll\. ( rcsitrnetP) . 
Dr. W, a. Lamii (appointed 

Tel. 517-^4. 

James G. Scarborough 

Tel. A 3297. 

Fernanp Par .A3 en tier ( 
Ethan R. Allen ( a]'[ 



ii\R!|-s \]. Rmtt, Snpcrinm^ 
Tels. A 5459; 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

029 712 990 



•s 



Ave. 



in St. 



Ave. 



Iklg. 




Citv Hall 



^oamL':- nf the Commission fir^t and third Wednesdays at 

'■-N'ck a. m., ntv flail. 



.MC'^CT «',r,. 



